Obama sets last-ditch cliff meeting

Congressional leaders will head to the White House on Friday to meet with President Barack Obama in what may be the final chance to restart negotiations just a few days before the nation plunges over the fiscal cliff.

Neither side is hopeful that there will be a breakthrough on taxes and spending before the new year, and top Republicans considered the Friday meeting to be more about optics than last-ditch horse-trading.

There were several signs Thursday that indicate the president and Congress were eager to escape the backlash from failing to cut a deal. Speaker John Boehner called the House into session for Sunday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said he got a rare call from Obama on Wednesday, and the top leaders from both parties will sit down at the White House on Friday.

Whether the Friday meeting will change the solidifying consensus in Washington that no deal will be reached remains to be seen.

“Why does this have to happen today? Why didn’t this happen six months ago,” said Texas Sen. John Cornyn, the incoming Senate GOP whip, predicting that no deal would be reached before the end of the year.

As he opened up a rare holiday week session, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid bluntly predicted Thursday it “looks like” the country is headed over the fiscal cliff without a bipartisan deal, seeking to shift the blame to House Republicans for refusing to consider Democratic proposals to extend current tax rates for all but those who make more than $250,000 annually.

But Republicans accused Reid and the White House of callously taking the country to the brink without serious bipartisan negotiating, as GOP leaders announced they’d bring the House back to session Sunday evening, perhaps to convince voters they were open to deal making.

Boehner signaled he wasn’t going to allow a bill to pass if it lacked sufficient support from Republicans, and McConnell pointedly warned Democrats that he would not give Democrats a “blank check” to pass whatever they wanted.